Making Telecoms Work: From Technical Innovation to Commercial Success

Making Telecoms Work: From Technical Innovation to Commercial Success

by Geoff Varrall
Released May 2012
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9781119976417

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Book description

Bridging the industry divide between the technical expertise of engineers and the aims of market and business planners, Making Telecoms Work provides a basis for more effective interdisciplinary analysis of technology, engineering, market and business investment risk and opportunity. Since fixed and mobile broadband has become a dominant deliverable, multiple areas of transition and transformation have occurred; the book places these changes in the context of the political, social and economic dynamics of the global telecommunications industry.

Drawing on 25 years of participative experience in the mobile phone and telecommunications industry, the author closely analyses the materials, components and devices that have had a transformative impact. By presenting detailed case studies of materials innovation, such as those shown at success story Apple, the book shows how the collaboration of technological imagination with business knowledge will shape the industry's future.

  • Makes a link between the technical aspects and the business practice of the telecoms industry, highlighting the commercial and economic significance of new developments

  • Gives a historical analysis of past successes and failures in order to identify future competitive advantage opportunities

  • Supplies detailed case studies of supply chain disconnects and the impact these have on industry risk and profitability

  • Brings together technological detail with analysis of what is and is not commercially important, from the implications of energy and environmental networks to the technical details of wireless network hardware.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Foreword
  5. List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
  6. Acknowledgements
  7. Chapter 1: Introduction
    1. 1.1 Differentiating Technology and Engineering Innovation
    2. 1.2 Differentiating Invention and Innovation
    3. 1.3 The Role of Standards, Regulation and Competition Policy
    4. 1.4 Mobile Broadband Auction Values – Spectral Costs and Liabilities and Impact on Operator Balance Sheets
    5. 1.5 TV and Broadcasting and Mobile Broadband Regulation
    6. 1.6 Technology Convergence as a Precursor of Market Convergence?
    7. 1.7 Mobile Broadband Traffic Growth Forecasts and the Related Impact on Industry Profitability
    8. 1.8 Radio versus Copper, Cable and Fibre – Comparative Economics
    9. 1.9 Standardised Description Frameworks – OSI Seven-Layer Model as a Market and Business Descriptor
    10. 1.10 Technology and Engineering Economics – Regional Shifts and Related Influence on the Design and Supply Chain, RF Component Suppliers and the Operator Community
    11. 1.11 Apple as an Example of Technology-Led Market Innovation
  8. Part One: User Hardware
    1. Chapter 2: Physical Layer Connectivity
      1. 2.1 Differentiating Guided and Unguided Media
      2. 2.2 The Transfer of Bandwidth from Broadcasting to Mobile Broadband
      3. 2.3 The Cost of Propagation Loss and Impact of OFDM
      4. 2.4 Competition or Collaboration?
      5. 2.5 The Smith Chart as a Descriptor of Technology Economics, Vector Analysis and Moore’s Law
      6. 2.6 Innovation Domains, Enabling Technologies and their Impact on the Cost of Delivery
      7. 2.7 Cable Performance Benchmarks
      8. 2.8 Hybrid Fibre Coaxial Systems
      9. 2.9 The DVB-S Satellite Alternative
      10. 2.10 Terrestrial TV
      11. 2.11 Copper Access – ADSL and VDSL Evolution
      12. 2.12 The Copper Conundrum – the Disconnect between Competition Policy and Technical Reality
      13. 2.13 OFDM in Wireless – A Similar Story?
      14. 2.14 Chapter Summary
    2. Chapter 3: Interrelationship of the Physical Layer with Other Layers of the OSI Model
      1. 3.1 MAC Layer and Physical Layer Relationships
      2. 3.2 OFDM and the Transformative Power of Transforms
      3. 3.3 The Role of Binary Arithmetic in Achieving Sensitivity, Selectivity and Stability
      4. 3.4 Summary
      5. 3.5 Contention Algorithms
      6. 3.6 The WiFi PHY and MAC Relationship
      7. 3.7 LTE Scheduling Gain
      8. 3.8 Chapter Summary
    3. Chapter 4: Telecommunications Economies of Scale
      1. 4.1 Market Size and Projections
      2. 4.2 Market Dynamics
      3. 4.3 Impact of Band Allocation on Scale Economics
      4. 4.4 The Impact of Increased RF Integration on Volume Thresholds
      5. 4.5 The RF Functions in a Phone
      6. 4.6 Summary
    4. Chapter 5: Wireless User Hardware
      1. 5.1 Military and Commercial Enabling Technologies
      2. 5.2 Smart Phones
      3. 5.3 Smart Phones and the User Experience
      4. 5.4 Summary So Far
      5. 5.5 RF Component Innovation
      6. 5.6 Antenna Innovations
      7. 5.7 Other Costs
      8. 5.8 Summary
    5. Chapter 6: Cable, Copper, Wireless and Fibre and the World of the Big TV
      1. 6.1 Big TV
      2. 6.2 3DTV
      3. 6.3 Portable Entertainment Systems
      4. 6.4 Summary of this Chapter and the First Five Chapters – Materials Innovation, Manufacturing Innovation, Market Innovation
  9. Part Two: User Software
    1. Chapter 7: Device-Centric Software
      1. 7.1 Battery Drain – The Memristor as One Solution
      2. 7.2 Plane Switching, Displays and Visual Acuity
      3. 7.3 Relationship of Display Technologies to Processor Architectures, Software Performance and Power Efficiency
      4. 7.4 Audio Bandwidth Cost and Value
      5. 7.5 Video Bandwidth Cost and Value
      6. 7.6 Code Bandwidth and Application Bandwidth Value, Patent Value and Connectivity Value
    2. Chapter 8: User-Centric Software
      1. 8.1 Imaging and Social Networking
      2. 8.2 The Image Processing Chain
      3. 8.3 Image Processing Software – Processor and Memory Requirements
      4. 8.4 Digital Camera Software
      5. 8.5 Camera-Phone Network Hardware
      6. 8.6 Camera-Phone Network Software
      7. 8.7 Summary
    3. Chapter 9: Content- and Entertainment-Centric Software
      1. 9.1 iClouds and MyClouds
      2. 9.2 Lessons from the Past
      3. 9.3 Memory Options
      4. 9.4 Gaming in the Cloud and Gaming and TV Integration
      5. 9.5 Solid-State Storage
    4. Chapter 10: Information-Centric Software
      1. 10.1 Standard Phones, Smart Phones and Super Phones
      2. 10.2 Radio Waves, Light Waves and the Mechanics of Information Transfer
      3. 10.3 The Optical Pipe and Pixels
      4. 10.4 Metadata Defined
      5. 10.5 Mobile Metadata and Super-Phone Capabilities
      6. 10.6 The Role of Audio, Visual and Social Signatures in Developing ‘Inference Value’
      7. 10.7 Revenues from Image and Audio and Memory and Knowledge Sharing – The Role of Mobile Metadata and Similarity Processing Algorithms
      8. 10.8 Sharing Algorithms
      9. 10.9 Disambiguating Social Mobile Metadata
      10. 10.10 The Requirement for Standardised Metadata Descriptors
      11. 10.11 Mobile Metadata and the Five Domains of User Value
      12. 10.12 Mathematical (Algorithmic Value) as an Integral Part of the Mobile Metadata Proposition
    5. Chapter 11: Transaction-Centric Software
      1. 11.1 Financial Transactions
      2. 11.2 The Role of SMS in Transactions, Political Influence and Public Safety
      3. 11.3 The Mobile Phone as a Dominant Communications Medium?
      4. 11.4 Commercial Issues – The End of the Cheque Book?
  10. Part Three: Network Hardware
    1. Chapter 12: Wireless Radio Access Network Hardware
      1. 12.1 Historical Context
      2. 12.2 From Difference Engine to Connection Engine
      3. 12.3 IP Network Efficiency Constraints
      4. 12.4 Telecoms – The Tobacco Industry of the Twentyfirst Century?
      5. 12.5 Amortisation Time Scales
      6. 12.6 Roads and Railways and the Power and Water Economy – The Justification of Long-Term Returns
      7. 12.7 Telecommunications and Economic Theory
      8. 12.8 The New Wireless Economy in a New Political Age?
      9. 12.9 Connected Economies – A Definition
      10. 12.10 Inferences and Implications
      11. 12.11 The Newly Connected Economy
    2. Chapter 13: Wireless Core Network Hardware
      1. 13.1 The Need to Reduce End-to-End Delivery Cost
      2. 13.2 Microwave-Link Economics
      3. 13.3 The Backhaul Mix
      4. 13.4 The HRAN and LRAN
      5. 13.5 Summary – Backhaul Options Economic Comparisons
      6. 13.6 Other Topics
    3. Chapter 14: Cable Network and Fibre Network Technologies and Topologies
      1. 14.1 Telegraph Poles as a Proxy for Regulatory and Competition Policy
      2. 14.2 Under the Streets of London
      3. 14.3 Above the Streets of London – The Telegraph
      4. 14.4 Corporate Success and Failure – Case Studies – The Impact of Regulation and Competition Policy
      5. 14.5 The Correlation of Success and Failure with R and D Spending
      6. 14.6 Broadband Delivery Economics and Delivery Innovation
    4. Chapter 15: Terrestrial Broadcast/Cellular Network Integration
      1. 15.1 Broadcasting in Historical Context
      2. 15.2 Digital Radio Mondiale
      3. 15.3 COFDM in DRM
      4. 15.4 Social and Political Impact of the Transistor Radio
      5. 15.5 Political and Economic Value of Broadcasting
      6. 15.6 DAB, DMB and DVB H
      7. 15.7 HSPA as a Broadcast Receiver
      8. 15.8 Impact of Global Spectral Policy and Related Implications for Receiver Design and Signal Flux Levels
      9. 15.9 White-Space Devices
      10. 15.10 Transmission Efficiency
      11. 15.11 Scale Economy Efficiency
      12. 15.12 Signalling Efficiency
      13. 15.13 Power Efficiency Loss as a Result of a Need for Wide Dynamic Range
      14. 15.14 Uneconomic Network Density as a Function of Transceiver TX and RX Inefficiency
      15. 15.15 Cognitive Radios Already Exist – Why Not Extend Them into White-Space Spectrum?
      16. 15.16 An Implied Need to Rethink the White-Space Space
      17. 15.17 White-Space White House
      18. 15.18 LTE TV
      19. 15.19 Summary
      20. 15.20 TV or not TV – That is the Question – What is the Answer?
      21. 15.21 And Finally the Issue of Potential Spectral Litigation
      22. 15.22 Technology Economics
      23. 15.23 Engineering Economics
      24. 15.24 Market Economics
      25. 15.25 Business Economics
      26. 15.26 Political Economics
      27. 15.27 Remedies
    5. Chapter 16: Satellite Networks
      1. 16.1 Potential Convergence
      2. 16.2 Traditional Specialist User Expectations
      3. 16.3 Impact of Cellular on Specialist User Expectations
      4. 16.4 DMR 446
      5. 16.5 TETRA and TETRA TEDS
      6. 16.6 TETRAPOL
      7. 16.7 WiDEN
      8. 16.8 APCO 25
      9. 16.9 Why the Performance Gap Between Cellular and Two-Way Radio will Continue to Increase Over Time
      10. 16.10 What This Means for Two-Way Radio Network Operators
      11. 16.11 Lack of Frequency Harmonisation as a Compounding Factor
      12. 16.12 The LTE 700 MHz Public-Safety-Band Plan
      13. 16.13 The US 800-MHz Public-Safety-Band Plan
      14. 16.14 Policy Issues and Technology Economics
      15. 16.15 Satellites for Emergency-Service Provision
      16. 16.16 Satellites and Cellular Networks
      17. 16.17 The Impact of Changing Technology and a Changed and Changing Economic and Regulatory Climate – Common Interest Opportunities
      18. 16.18 And Finally – Satellite and Terrestrial Hybrid Networks
      19. 16.19 Satellite Spectrum and Orbit Options
      20. 16.20 Terrestrial Broadcast and Satellite Coexistence in L Band
      21. 16.21 Terrestrial DAB Satellite DAB and DVB H
      22. 16.22 World Space Satellite Broadcast L Band GSO Plus Proposed ATC
      23. 16.23 Inmarsat – L Band GSO Two-Way Mobile Communications
      24. 16.24 Thuraya 2 L Band GSO Plus Triband GSM and GPS
      25. 16.25 ACeS L Band GSO Plus Triband GSM and GPS
      26. 16.26 Mobile Satellite Ventures L Band GSO Plus ATC
      27. 16.27 Global Positioning MEOS at L Band GPS, Galileo and Glonass
      28. 16.28 Terrestrial Broadcast and Satellite Coexistence in S Band
      29. 16.29 XM and Sirius in the US – S Band GEO Plus S Band ATC
      30. 16.30 Mobaho in Japan and S DMB in South Korea – S Band GSO Plus ATC
      31. 16.31 Terrestar S Band in the US – GSO with ATC
      32. 16.32 ICO S Band GSO with ATC
      33. 16.33 ICO S Band MEO at S Band with ATC
      34. 16.34 Eutelsat and SES ASTRA GSO – ‘Free’ S Band Payloads
      35. 16.35 Intelsat C Band Ku Band and Ka Band GSO
      36. 16.36 Implications for Terrestrial Broadcasters
      37. 16.37 Implications for Terrestrial Cellular Service Providers
      38. 16.38 The Impact of Satellite Terrestrial ATC Hybrids on Cellular Spectral and Corporate Value
      39. 16.39 L Band, S Band, C Band, K Band and V Band Hybrids
      40. 16.40 Summary
  11. Part Four: Network Software
    1. Chapter 17: Network Software – The User Experience
      1. 17.1 Definition of a Real-Time Network
      2. 17.2 Switching or Routing
      3. 17.3 IP Switching as an Option
      4. 17.4 Significance of the IPv6 Transition
      5. 17.5 Router Hardware/Software Partitioning
      6. 17.6 The Impact of Increasing Policy Complexity
      7. 17.7 So What Do Whorls Have to Do with Telecom Networks?
      8. 17.8 Packet Arrival Rates
      9. 17.9 Multilayer Classification
    2. Chapter 18: Network Software – Energy Management and Control
      1. 18.1 Will the Pot Call the Kettle Back?
      2. 18.2 Corporate M2M
      3. 18.3 Specialist M2M
      4. 18.4 Consumer M2M
      5. 18.5 Device Discovery and Device Coupling in Consumer M2M Applications and the Role of Near-Field Communication
      6. 18.6 Bandwidth Considerations
      7. 18.7 Femtocells as an M2M Hub?
      8. 18.8 Summary
    3. Chapter 19: Network Software – Microdevices and Microdevice Networks – The Software of the Very Small
      1. 19.1 Microdevices – How Small is Small?
      2. 19.2 Contactless Smart Cards at 13.56 MHz – A Technology, Engineering and Business Model?
      3. 19.3 Contactless Smart Cards and Memory Spots – Unidirectional and Bidirectional Value
      4. 19.4 Contactless Smart Cards, RF ID and Memory Spots
      5. 19.5 Contactless Smart Cards, RF ID, Memory Spot and Mote (Smart Dust) Applications
      6. 19.6 The Cellular Phone as a Bridge Between Multiple Devices and Other Network-Based Information
      7. 19.7 Multiple RF Options
      8. 19.8 Multiple Protocol Stacks
      9. 19.9 Adoption Time Scales – Bar Codes as an Example
      10. 19.10 Summary
    4. Chapter 20: Server Software
      1. 20.1 The Wisdom of the Cloud?
      2. 20.2 A Profitable Cloud?
      3. 20.3 A Rural Cloud?
      4. 20.4 A Locally Economically Relevant Cloud?
      5. 20.5 A Locally Socially Relevant Cloud?
      6. 20.6 A Locally Politically Relevant Cloud – The China Cloud?
      7. 20.7 The Cultural Cloud?
    5. Chapter 21: Future Trends, Forecasting, the Age of Adaptation and More Transformative Transforms
      1. 21.1 Future Forecasts
      2. 21.2 The Contribution of Charles Darwin to the Theory of Network Evolution
      3. 21.3 Famous Mostly Bearded Botanists and Their Role in Network Design – The Dynamics of Adaptation
      4. 21.4 Adaptation, Scaling and Context
      5. 21.5 Examples of Adaptation in Existing Semiconductor Solutions
      6. 21.6 Examples of Adaptation in Present Mobile Broadband Systems
      7. 21.7 Examples of Adaptation in Future Semiconductor Solutions
      8. 21.8 Examples of Adaptation in Future Cellular Networks
      9. 21.9 Specialisation
      10. 21.10 The Role of Standards Making
      11. 21.11 The Need for a Common Language
      12. 21.12 A Definition of Descriptive Domains
      13. 21.13 Testing the Model on Specific Applications
      14. 21.14 Domain Value
      15. 21.15 Quantifying Domain-Specific Economic and Emotional Value
      16. 21.16 Differentiating Communications and Connectivity Value
      17. 21.17 Defining Next-Generation Networks
      18. 21.18 Defining an Ultralow-Cost Network
      19. 21.19 Standards Policy, Spectral Policy and RF Economies of Scale
      20. 21.20 The Impact of IPR on RF Component and Subsystem Costs
      21. 21.21 The Cost of ‘Design Dissipation’
      22. 21.22 The Hidden Costs of Content – Storage Cost
      23. 21.23 The Hidden Costs of User-Generated Content – Sorting Cost
      24. 21.24 The Hidden Cost of Content – Trigger Moments
      25. 21.25 The Hidden Cost of Content – Delivery Cost
      26. 21.26 The Particular Costs of Delivering Broadcast Content Over Cellular Networks
      27. 21.27 Summary – Cost and Value Transforms
  12. Index

Product information

  • Title: Making Telecoms Work: From Technical Innovation to Commercial Success
  • Author(s): Geoff Varrall
  • Release date: May 2012
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9781119976417